CHICAGO (April 12, 2015) – U.S. Men’s National Team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann has selected a 22-player roster for the 64th edition of the USA-Mexico rivalry, presented by AT&T, on Wednesday, April 15 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CT and the game will be broadcast live on FOX Sports 1, UniMas and Univision Deportes Network.

With the game occurring outside of an official FIFA international fixture date, the U.S. roster is mostly comprised of players that compete with North America-based clubs. Thirteen players play their trade in MLS, while league rival Liga MX contributes five to the group.

The U.S. contingent, which continues preparations for the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup, includes nine players from the 2014 FIFA World Cup roster.

The United States will be without the services of team captain Clint Dempsey, who is sidelined with a hamstring strain, and forward Jozy Altidore, who is required to serve a one-match suspension following a red card he received in the USA’s last friendly, a 1-1 draw against Switzerland on March 31 in Zurich.

Klinsmann’s side has not lost to its archrival since he took the helm in the summer of 2011, going 2-0-3 in that span. The results include the USA’s first victory against Mexico at Estadio Azteca and the 0-0 away draw in qualifying for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Currently ranked No. 18 in the world, Mexico brings a 19-player roster with all members based in Liga MX. Mexico comes into the match having won both friendlies it has played this year against Ecuador and Paraguay by matching 1-0 score lines.

Michael Orozco scored the game-winning goal in the U.S.’s historic first win against Mexico on Mexican soil in Estadio Azteca on Aug. 15, 2012. It was Orozco’s first international goal.

Julian Green made his international debut for the USA against Mexico, coming on as a second-half sub in a similarly time friendly last year on April 2 at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

Liga MX based Alvarado and Yarbrough both earned their first caps with the U.S. during the MNT’s March training camp in Europe.

Yarbrough, 26, was born and raised in Mexico to two American parents and earned his first cap for the U.S. MNT on March 31 against Switzerland. He marshaled the backline for Club Leon to the 2013 Apertura and 2014 Clausura titles.

Kyle Beckerman returns to the team for his first international action of 2015 since playing against Ireland on Nov. 18, 2014 in Dublin. He played a role in the USA’s World Cup run in 2014, starting in all three of the group stage matches.

Juan Agudelo’s last appearance with the U.S. MNT came when he was subbed on in the second-half of the game against Ukraine on March 5, 2014.

The 2015 Major League Soccer season got underway on Friday, March 6, and it was a former Development Academy forward who kicked things off with the
league’s first goal of the new campaign.

LA Galaxy’s Jose Villarreal, who won a national title with Pateadores and then represented the LA Galaxy Academy, tallied an unassisted 65th-minute goal
that proved to be the game-winner during the Galaxy’s 2-0 victory against the Chicago Fire.

“We have a lot of forwards, and we asked him to make this transition to midfield,” LA Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena said. “It’s a bit challenging, but he
has worked real hard to get fit. I thought [Friday] he showed that, and he did in his last couple of preseason games. We’re pretty excited about his
development.”

Three Academy alumni made their professional debuts over the weekend. Sporting Kansas City defender Amadou Dia, formerly of Real Colorado, played the full 90 minutes during 1-1 draw against
the New York Red Bulls on Sunday at Sporting Park. Abdul-Fatai Alashe earned his first MLS cap as the Vardar product went the final nine minutes during the San Jose Earthquakes’ 1-0 loss to FC Dallas.
New York City FC’s Khiry Shelton earned 28 minutes in
his MLS debut as the Lonestar SC product replaced Mehdi Ballouchy in the second half of a 1-1 draw.

After finishing off the 2014 slate with a pair of friendlies against Colombia and Ireland in the United Kingdom, U.S. Men's National Team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann sat down with ussoccer.com to discuss the state of the team as it sets sail on the new 2018 World Cup cycle.

ussoccer.com: Having thoroughly reviewed both games, what are the key points you take away? To what extent are the results important?

Jurgen Klinsmann: “Results are always important because results over time bring you confidence and give you more respect towards opponents and other countries watching you. But, on the other hand, playing these games in another environment, especially far away from the United States is always a learning curve. It's an experiment where you can bring in players who never really experienced this type of atmosphere or circumstances. Therefore it was two very important games where I hope the players took a lot with them at the end of the day.”

“Obviously for us coaches we saw a lot of things we want to see and also a lot of things we don’t want to see, especially in the 4-1 loss to Ireland. There were too many individual mistakes, especially on the second and third goal, that you can’t afford on the international level.”

“I still think it was definitely worth it. We were excited about a couple of players coming in being fresh. Bill Hamid made his start there against Ireland and experienced really the international level. Jordan Morris played his first cap, Rubio Rubin came in and we see some talent coming through. Will it take time for them? Absolutely, but you got to start that process and it’s better earlier than too late. So we start the process already and we're excited for them.”

ussoccer.com: One of the key goals of this last camp was establish a mentoring environment between the veterans and the youngsters. Were you pleased with how that went, and what are the next steps there?

JK: “It was the overall theme that we wanted to use the last couple of games: to build relationships between the older players and some of the younger players to be their mentors, to be their guides in a certain way, to help from their experience. We wanted guys like Brad Guzan, Kyle Beckerman, DaMarcus Beasley, Jermaine Jones and others to make the younger players understand what it takes to drive towards hopefully one day a World Cup because they already have a couple World Cups under their belts. This mentorship that we've started now will continue in the future because we want the younger players to grow and we want them to very fast understand that it takes a lot of inner drive and self-motivation and professionalism to get to that level where the established older guys have played already. So this theme will go with us into the future and it will be interesting to see how it develops.”

ussoccer.com: You said the goalkeeper position is an open competition. You've had a variety of them in camp and were able to spread around minutes. How would you assess that situation?

JK: “I think the goalkeeper situation is going well. Obviously Tim Howard is taking a year off, so Brad Guzan jumps in as the natural fit right away. He proves that he is ready to be the No. 1. Nick Rimando is knocking at the door and he would like to have that spot too. For us it's also important that we bring along Billy Hamid and Sean Johnson who were our Olympic team goalkeepers of the last cycle. So we have to bring them into those environments, train them on the highest level, but also here and there give them a game. That's why Bill Hamid started that game against Ireland and did well; I had no issues at all [with his performance]. Right now, it's not about defining No. 1, 2, and 3 and setting it in stone because we're in a transition year going into next summer's Gold Cup. Prior to the Gold Cup we will make it clear, so this year gives us the opportunity to have a closer look at all of them.”

ussoccer.com: Part of the goal of these friendlies is to get players experience. In what ways does making extensive substitutions impact a match?

JK: “Playing friendly games and having the substitution rule where you can bring in six players obviously changes the dynamic of games, especially towards the end of games. When you bring in subs in order to give them a chance, in order to give them experience, you sort of risk the result. Either way - it could go the good way or it could go the bad way. When you come in as a sub and you're down a goal, it's far more difficult to give an impact than if you're up a goal when everything is positive and you might hit another goal from your end. So it's not always easy for the subs to make an impression, but if we don't do it, we miss out on too big an opportunity for these players to gain experience. So, we compromised the substitutions in a friendly game for some results. Do we want the results at the same time? Absolutely, but here and there you’ve got do it for the big picture.”

ussoccer.com: Two of the surprise call-ups during the post-World Cup friendlies were Miguel Ibarra and Jordan Morris. How did they fare, and are you open to bringing in other players in similar circumstances as them?

JK: “We believe Miguel Ibarra coming from the NASL and Jordan Morris coming from college that there are players in those areas that have tremendous talent. So we are looking at their talent and where it could be in two to four years from now if you give them time to grow and nurture them. Basically it's gone extremely well so far, so we are looking for players all over the place - if they come through the European channels, maybe through the youth system there, through Mexico or the NASL or the college route or the MLS ranks.

“The players themselves need to prove that they have this inner drive and they have an understanding of what it takes to grow into an established player on the international level. Our job is to identify their talent and then build it. Hopefully they make the right choices then down the road in terms of their own career and their own club environment, but it’s encouraging to see these two young players leading the way for hopefully many other players in the future to break through.”

ussoccer.com: Morris made his debut when he came on against Ireland. How did you rate his performance?

JK: “For us coaches it’s really important for us to see the talent growing one step at a time. With Jordan Morris you have a player that comes from the college system; he comes from Stanford. He has a specific rhythm there in the college environment, so we kind of had a closer look at him with the Olympic team first, then I brought him to the Czech Republic. We saw him grow now over the last half year to a year and he did better and better because he gets more and more confident and believes in himself. So when the moment came actually to add him in to the Ireland game, it was a tricky moment because we were down. But he settled in and he had good moments. He was good in one-on-one situations. If he's a bit lucky he gives an assist to Greg Garza to score a goal. So we were very happy and we continue to build him and bring him in like with the other younger players.”

ussoccer.com: How would you assess the Jermaine Jones transition to centerback? Is something you plan on continuing?

JK: “Jermaine Jones growing into this role as a right center back is encouraging for us to see that we have another option, another card if we need him to play. Is he more of a midfielder? Yes, that's where he played his whole life. Does he see himself as a midfielder? Probably, but we see that at his age he has tremendous experience and leadership to guide a back line, especially with young players coming through like John Anthony Brooks. They are the ones who need that leadership from him on the back line. It's good to have this drive from Jermaine. Going forward this will be important for us. It could be that he has to settle with this role; we'll see. We'll see with the development of all the other players in that role as well, but we're looking good in terms of center backs.”

ussoccer.com: Tim Howard was voted the U.S. Soccer Male Athlete of the Year. What can you say about his performance in 2014?

JK: “When you talk about Timmy, you talk about the Belgium game where I don’t know how many shots he saved, but he really was our backbone to stay in the game and to go all the way into extra time and almost actually beat Belgium. That was a remarkable performance from him that I think everybody would talk about right away. He's a tremendous personality, a very calm, quiet leader. Obviously he has all the experience that you need in his position but also in his career. He's played pretty much his entire career in Europe on a very high level, so he's a role model for many, many young players coming through the ranks and not only goal keepers, also field players. It's just great to have him.”

ussoccer.com: You will be attending the Nike Friendlies and the Development Academy Showcase at the end of the month. What is on the agenda there?

JK: “For us coaches it's important to see what the talent is doing on a younger level so going to the Nike Friendlies, seeing our U-17s competing with teams like Brazil, Australia and England is quite exciting. I was there last year and it was neat to see. It's also important for us to connect with the Academy program, with the coaches from the Academy clubs, with a lot of people who are down there and seeing things first hand. That's why I called in my coaching staff, assistant coaches and other people to have a closer look at the young players. It's important to always be up to speed with the development on the youth side.”

ussoccer.com: Many of the players are now heading into their offseason. What will your message be to them on how to bridge the gap between now and the start of their next season?

JK: “For us it's a tricky situation. MLS players are pretty much done, NASL players are done, the college season gets to an end, Mexico plays its own agenda and the Europeans now are going full steam basically until the end of May. We're monitoring all of them, their club teams, we're keeping in touch with their coaches and with themselves as well. It's a lot of scouting. It's a lot of communication, a lot of tracking down the right people to get the right information. What we hope from them is absolutely to establish their starter position stronger and stronger. This is the biggest challenge for them. This is what quite a lot of them lost after the World Cup. For us this is a bad situation to develop a National Team program with players not starting in their club situations. Hopefully they get that done over the next couple weeks and we can look at it a little bit calmer.”

ussoccer.com: You have considered different approaches to the January camp, including not having one at all. Why is this camp important and what will be the focus in terms of roster and schedule?

JK: “With the tricky situation that we have in the United States that now we have the season for the MLS players going towards the end and a lot of them having a break of almost two or three months, we are forced to hold a January camp to try and get the players in early in order to build their foundation for the season. It probably will go with the theme we had the last couple of months, bringing experienced players, bringing a lot of younger players in and kind of meld them together and have that mentorship for the developmental aspect of it.

“We want to explain a lot more what it takes to get to the international level - that you have to be on top of your game on the field, but you also have to be on top of your life off the field. With that schedule that we carry in the United States that we only get a nine, nine-and-a-half month season, we can't compete with the nations that go 11 months through. We're missing two months basically, so we try to bridge that with camps. We keep working, we keep explaining, we keep educating, which is very important on the field and off the field. It's going to be an exciting January camp like all the other ones in the past.”

ussoccer.com: Next year has been described as one of the most challenging schedules the National Team has ever put together in terms of the opponents as well as the competitions which would suggest a significant growth opportunity. How important is it to have the full team available?

JK: “Looking forward to 2015, obviously there's an exciting Gold Cup on the agenda in July, which we want to badly win because it takes us to the Confederations Cup 2017 in Russia. Certainly there are challenges with the FIFA fixture dates. The calendar is not in sync with MLS, so hopefully we're getting closer with MLS to solve that situation so that we can always call the strongest team possible for senior National Team games, which is very important to us because we want to do well and we want to get the results. We can't always compromise our players on this side or the other side, so having that calendar together would help us tremendously.

“2015 will be a year of developing talent on and off the field. The theme will be education. Education wherever we can. We want to educate more on the coaching side, we want to educate on the players side, we want to educate on the parents side about what it really takes to become a professional. What's exciting for us is we're building our own counseling office with Nelson Rodriguez leading it. This is a huge step. It's something we copied a bit from the universities where we try to establish contact with the players and their parents early in order to help them understand what you need to know to become a pro. So there will be a lot of educational topics out there. We want to improve coaching education wherever we can because it's crucial, and we want to challenge our players and not let them settle, not even for a second, for whatever they have achieved up to that point. We want to grow our program and one day compete with the best in the world, so it means a lot of hard work in 2015.”

The young goalkeeping prospect has been tagged as one with a bright future, appearing in every camp with the full team for the second half of 2011. Age-eligible for the 2012 Olympics, Hamid made D.C. United history when he became the first D.C. United Academy player to sign with the first team. He went on to make history, becoming the youngest goalkeeper in MLS history to win a league contest on May 5, 2010, a 2-1 win against Sporting KC, a feat that bested Tim Howard’s previous record.

Won Development Academy Story of the Year in the 2009 Best of U.S. Soccer Awards for becoming the first D.C. United Academy player to sign with the first team

Served as an understudy to Tim Howard for seven matches in 2011

Called into a U-23 training camp in December

Signed with the D.C. United on Sept. 2, 2009, making him the first Development Academy player to sign with the first team

Played and started in 28 games D.C. United in 2011, posting seven shutouts

2011: Named to the roster for the matches against Mexico, Costa Rica, Belgium, Honduras and Ecuador, each of Jurgen Klinsmann’s games in charge … Still awaiting his first cap ... Under-20s: Played in the Campos Verdes International Tournament in Portugal and the Copa Chivas tournament in Mexico, both in 2008 … First appearance: None … First Shutout: None.

2011: Posted seven shutouts in his 28 games for D.C. United, all starts … 2010: Started all eight of his games for D.C. and posted one shutout … Became the youngest MLS goalkeeper to win a league game, when D.C. beat the Kansas City Wizards 2-1 on May 5 … 2009: Came up through the D.C. United youth system, and on Sept. 2 became the first Development Academy player to sign for the first team.